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| Public health experts Dr. John Q. Wong (EpiMetrics) and Dr. Anthony Calibo (Jhpiego HAPPI Project) share evidence and strategies on positioning HPV vaccination as a cornerstone of cervical cancer prevention and Universal Health Care during the Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians 7th Annual National Convention (PHCON 2025) with the theme “Hibla at Habi: Weaving a Responsive Health System.” |
Public Health Physicians call for
Strengthening HPV Vaccination for Cervical Cancer Prevention
Public
health physicians continue to champion the cause of human papillomavirus (HPV)
vaccination as a critical step in preventing cervical cancer and realizing the
goals of Universal Health Care (UHC) in the Philippines.
At
the recent Philippine Society of Public Health
Physicians 7th Annual National Convention (PHCON 2025) with the
theme “Hibla at Habi: Weaving a Responsive Health System,” experts
underscored that cervical cancer, a preventable cancer, remains one of the
country’s most urgent health challenges, claiming about 12 Filipinas’ lives
each day.
They stressed that HPV
vaccination, combined with screening and awareness programs, offers a proven
and cost-effective way to curb this toll and move closer to eliminating
cervical cancer as a public health burden.
HPV
Vaccination as a Strategic Investment
Dr.
John Q. Wong, renowned epidemiologist, and co-founder and president of
EpiMetrics, highlighted the economic and equity benefits of making HPV
vaccination a national priority. He said that “for every dollar [peso] you
invest in the vaccination program, you get back up to 4x in benefits.
Meanwhile, the cost of treatment, depending on the stage, can range between Php
200,000 to Php 1 million.”
Dr. Wong added that prevention
saves families from catastrophic health expenses and strengthens the broader
health system. “It’s more expensive to buy an iPhone than to invest in
protecting our girls through HPV vaccination,” Dr. Wong noted, underscoring that
the government will just have to spend less than Php 2,000 per person to
provide decades of protection against cervical cancer through the national HPV
vaccination program.
He clarified that this figure
refers to the program cost shouldered by the government, not the out-of-pocket
price of the vaccine. “If we consider the long-term protection against cancer,
the HPV vaccine is not a costly investment but rather one of the most
cost-effective public health measures available,” he emphasized.
The
Role of Physicians and Communities
Drawing
from the findings of the HAPPI Project, Dr. Anthony Calibo, Technical Advisor
of Jhpiego’s HPV Vaccination Learning Project (HPV Vaccination Acceleration
Program Partners Initiative), noted that HPV vaccine coverage rates (VCR)
remain low across many areas, largely because the current Department of Health
(DOH) allocation of vaccines is insufficient to meet the demand. “This is why
physicians must step up and help bridge the gap,” he stressed. “Doctors should
influence mayors, governors, and councilors to prioritize HPV vaccination.”
He also pointed to best practices
from HAPPI, which showed that integrating HPV vaccination into school-based
immunization drives and adolescent health check-ups boosts uptake. “Teachers
play a critical role. When consent forms are sent home, parents often go back
to teachers with questions. Equipping them to communicate the benefits of the
vaccine is essential to building trust.”
Adding to Dr. Calibo’s sharing, Dr.
Wong urged reframing the message: “It’s better to present HPV immunization as a
cancer prevention vaccine. Who doesn’t want to prevent cancer? This is one of
only two vaccines in the world that can actually do that.”
Local Leadership: Banna, Ilocos Norte Sets the Standard
The
municipality of Banna, Ilocos Norte, led by mayor-physician Hon. Dr. Chrislyn
Abadilla, has become a model for local government action. The current
Department of Health (DOH) HPV Vaccination Program using the quadrivalent HPV
Vaccine caters only to a small percentage of Grade 4 female students. But by
early 2024, the town achieved 90% HPV vaccination coverage among girls aged
9-14, making it the first in the country to meet the World Health
Organization’s elimination target.
In August 2025, Banna’s program
expanded to include young women up to age 26 and female healthcare workers, all
funded by the local government. This is to ensure that females who missed or were
not covered by the DOH HPV vaccination program in previous years would have a
chance to get the HPV Vaccination for free from their LGU. The
quadrivalent HPV vaccine also protects against genital warts, making it a
valuable part of adolescent sexual and reproductive health programs.
“What was once thought impossible
for a small municipality is now being celebrated as a model of courage,
compassion, and commitment to public health,” Dr. Abadilla shared in a video message.
Toward
Universal Health Care
Dr.
Wong and Dr. Calibo agreed that scaling up HPV vaccination requires both
political will and community partnership. They urged national and local
governments to secure budgets, integrate vaccination into existing programs,
and train educators and health workers to dispel myths.
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